Patronus
by archerdpg
Summary: After the incident in the bathroom, Harry's feelings about Malfoy have changed. But why?
1. Chapter 1

**Patronus**

 **Prompt, via malfoysscarhead on Tumblr:** What if …after the sectumsempra incident, Harry's patronus became a ferret? He suddenly realised that he was terrified of Draco's possible death and the patronus was his constant reminder that the blonde was alive …

"SECTUMSEPRA!" bellowed Harry from the floor, waving his wand wildly.

Blood spurted from Malfoy's face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backward and collapsed onto the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his right hand.

"No-"gasped Harry.

Slipping and staggering, Harry got to his feet and plunged toward Malfoy, whose face was now a shining scarlet, his white hands scrabbling at his blood-soaked chest.

"No-I didn't-"

Harry did not know what he was saying; he fell to his knees beside Malfoy, who was shaking uncontrollably in a pool of his own blood.

Harry rushed into his dormitory, passing and ignoring the quizzical looks from Ron and Seamus in the common room. Harry stopped at his bed and yanked the potions book from its hiding place. He slammed it open onto his bed and thumbed his way to the page he was looking for. There it was, at the top of the page, scrawled in neat, disorganised hand-writing, was the spell.

 _Sectumsempra – For enemies_

His eyes scanned the rest of the page, looking for any other clues to what the curse have originated from, just so he could guess what the fuck he just cursed Malfoy with.

Nothing.

Harry groaned and tried at the beginning of the book, leafing through the pages for something, _anything!_ , about the curse.

Nothing. Nothing at the beginning of the book, nothing in the middle, nothing at the end.

"No, no, no, no, no…" Harry desperately muttered under his breath. When he reached the end of the book, he just started at the beginning again, looking for some other keywords, like 'curse' or 'enemies.' Still nothing.

He started to hear the distinctive heavy footsteps of Ron coming up the staircase. Harry quickly closed the book and threw the book back into its hiding place, cursing himself under his breath. He luckily closed his drawer before Ron came into the dorm. Unluckily, he hadn't been able to change his position, and Harry could've only guessed what was going through Ron's mind.

"Oh…Hi Harry…" he said slowly. Harry was facing away from Ron and leaning on his bed, with his knees to the ground and his arms invisible to Ron's eyes. He was breathing really heavily, like he had just run up 30 flights of stairs. Harry sharply looked over his shoulder at Ron.

"What do you want Ron?" he asked forcefully, his frustration seeping into his tone.

"I, uh, saw you run in and I just wanted to check if you were okay-"

"I'm fine Ron, there's nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure? Cause you definitely don't look-"

"I'm fine Ron." The anger in his voice had turned venom, dripping from his words and slicing Ron. He looked Ron directly at his eyes, piercing his with his own. Ron, surprised and scared by this sudden burst of bitterness, started walking backwards out the door.

"Okay then…just…I'm right downstairs if you need anything…so is 'Mione…" He quickly dashed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Harry turned back to the bed and held his head in his hands, clawing at his hair, breathing heavily.

 _What have I done?_

 _More importantly…_

 _Why do I care?_

The first time Harry saw Malfoy after that night was after class on Tuesday afternoon, a week later. He was with his friend, Pansy, who seemed to be helping him walk. Harry, having spotted that silver hair, told Ron and Hermione that he will see them in the library later. Hermione, having seen who he was looking at, grasped his arm.

"Harry, no. This needs to stop. Leave him alone." He looked at her and she could see an emotion in his eyes, an emotion she could not quite put her finger on.

Harry thought about shaking off her arm and dismissing her words but decided against it. After all, Hermione knows best. Just when he was going to turn around and follow them, Malfoy turned around and caught Harry's eyes. Malfoy's face immediately converted into a sneer, looking at Harry with nothing but distaste and hatred. One part of Harry's mind wanted to sneer back, to look back at him with the same amount of hatred, but the rest didn't, which caused Harry's face to morph into an unrecognizable emotion.

This obviously surprised Malfoy. His sneer dropped. His face was a mix of confusion, curiosity. Then, as if he suddenly remembered where he was, he face returned and he quickly limped away with Pansy following after him.

Harry couldn't wrap his mind around his own emotions. Was he pitying Malfoy? Was he simply feeling guilty about what he did?

 _What is wrong with me?_

"ARGH!" Harry screamed as he threw a violent curse at a tree. As the curse hit the tree it caused a he mass of red sparks to fly in every direction, blowing the bark off the tree. Birds hurriedly flew away from the dangerous tree. Harry threw another curse at a neighbouring tree, causing the same effect of scurrying animals trying to escape his rampage. He stood there, panting, watching them run away. He looked around him, seeing all the trees that he had targeted, stripped of their bark. He collapsed onto a boulder behind him, holding his head in his hands. He was so confused.

Ever since that night he's been seeing Malfoy constantly, in the hallways, in the library, out on the Quidditch pitch. And he was so confused because he didn't know his feelings. Why was he feeling this way? Yes, it wold be normal to be upset after almost accidently killing someone, but not so upset that it throws off your complete opinion about someone. _Why do I care?_

Harry started noticing that it was getting darker. Knowing full well that being in the Forbidden Forest after dark is practically a death wish, so he stood up and decided to start walking back to the castle before it became too dark.

Harry had definitely over-estimated how far he had run into the Forbidden Forest because he was still walking when it got too dark to see where he was going. He thought of casting a lumos, but decided against it as it wouldn't be bright enough. So Harry cleared his throat.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" He swirled his wand high above his head and cast the spell, only to stop dead in his tracks.

Instead of seeing the familiar mighty stag, he was greeted by a smaller, more nimble animal, weaving and looping through his legs.

 _What does this mean?_

It was a ferret.

A/N: not bad for my first chapter. I was aiming for this one to be shorter but now it turned into this because I new I wouldn't be able to do it in one chapter. Not too keen with it at the moment, whole ot of ~what does this mean~ jim jam at the moment. Dunno wheres its gonna go.

If ur reading this please give feedback, would love to read.

-archer


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Professor Dumbledore has informed me that he would like you all to practice your Patronus charms in light of recent events." Snape's drawl echoed through the depths of the Defence classroom. At his words, Harry shot up from leaning against his desk. _Shit!_ He thought.

"Since a particular student in our class just happens to pride himself on his Patronus capabilities, I would like to ask Mr Potter to demonstrate a Patronus." All eyes in the class shifted towards Harry and he gulped audibly. After the incident in third year, everyone in the school knew that his Patronus was a stag. There would be a massive uproar if the legendary stag Patronus of Harry Potter was discovered to now be a meek, little ferret.

Before Harry could even move a muscle, his knight in shining armour, his burning savour, Hermione piped up. "Sir, might I just say that you have picked Harry to demonstrate every spell we have done in the last week. Some might say you're picking favourites." She hinted. The class laughed at Snape's shocked expression, obviously offended at the statement that Harry was his favourite student. Harry leaned into Hermione and whispered, "Thank you." She nodded in my direction. Harry smiled.

Snape grunted and gruffly said, "Very well then. Potter, you will not have to demonstrate this time." Snape's eyes scanned the classroom and picked out a student in the back. "Malfoy. You shall demonstrate for us today."

Draco froze. He sat in his chair, stock still. He could feel the eyes of the class piercing him as he sat there. He was broken out of his shock when Pansy poked him with her wand. He slowly rose from his chair and made his way to the front of the room, still very slowly. Harry watched him pass his desk quizzically. _Why was he so nervous?_

When Draco reached the front of the classroom, he turned around to face the class, his eyes full of fear but his expression and posture composed. He looked at Snape, who looked down his nose and glared at him expectantly. Draco took a big breath and closed his eyes.

 _Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts…_

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Draco shouted, waving his wand.

Nothing happened.

The class started to murmur. Harry was confused. _Surely Malfoy would be able to cast a Patronus? What's wrong?_

Draco, trying to ignore the whispers of the class, took another deep breath. "Try again, Malfoy." Snape said sharply.

Draco thought hard. _Okay, so obviously that was the wrong memory. I just need to think of another. Think, think, think….That one might work….but it isn't a happy memory…._

"We don't have all day, Malfoy." Snape said harshly. A few snickers arose from that comment.

 _Looks like that memory will do. Please work, please work, please work…._

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A massive burst of light erupted from Draco's wand, so powerful that it knocked Draco backed a couple of feet. There was a chorus of oohs and ahhs and the ethereal creature bounded around the classroom, some students reaching out to touch it. Draco let out a breath of relief and smiled. After all, it was the first time he had cast a patronus.

Harry sat, slack-jawed as he watched the glowing doe prance around the classroom. It was beautiful in every sense of the word. It weaved and climbed around the air and on top of tables. Harry's head shot around to the front of the classroom, and was able to spot Malfoys beaming smile and thought, only for a second, that the doe was second the most beautiful thing in the room.

Severus tried to control his shock as he watched Draco's patronus glide through the air, a patronus practically identical to his own. His thoughts raced as he tried to think of an explanation for this seemingly random animal. _Draco's never seen my patronus, so it can't possibly be linked to me…hold on…isn't Potter's patronus a stag?...Oh you have to be-_

"-fucking kidding me!" Ron said loudly as the doe raced past him, the wind flow knocking over an ink pot on his desk, causing it to spill all over his books. He ignored Hermione's giggle.

"Of course it's Malfoy to have the gayest Patronus possible." He grumbled as he tried to clean up the mess. He received a sharp smack on the head from Hermione for that remark.

A/N what's this? An update? Story? Character development? Intrigue? It's like fucking Christmas. But HO! Do not get your hopes up laddies because I am about to go into the most stressful year of my life so please do not expect an update anytime soon, im just being honest here. I actually gave up on this story cause I was focusing more on my baby driver au but then I just went hey what the fuck might as well.

Please, if you enjoyed it, let me know and if you have any advice or criticisms, please leave a review. Thank you so much!

~archer


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